Brian’s TRT Blog

There are three types of workshops:
==>Why am I wasting my time sitting here?
==>This is good stuff
==>With the Halleluiah Chorus in the background, you-forget-to-breathe-because-this-is-GOOD-stuff-and-I-can’t-wait-to-share-this! good.

I was blessed to listen to Helen Crompton, member of the Visiting International Faculty, as she presented a new initiative by the British Government to support educators in teaching various mathematical concepts. Do not fear–these are as useful in the U.S. as they are in Britain! Especially useful for those with interactive white boards, slates, or data projectors, you can download for free (yes, you read right) Flash electronic manipulatives that cover such things as area, line graphs, grouping, place value, number lines, telling time, measuring ruler, and MANY more.

To access the ITPs, just go to this website, type in ITPs in the search bar, and click the hyperlinks that come up. There are many other links that I haven’t explored, but this is well worth investigating.

OK–admit it. Everyone understands something in a class and the professor asks, “OK–any questions?” Everyone rolls their eyes, and you think, “I have NO clue!” and are too embarrassed to say anything?

Do you really know how Twitter works? What’s the history of the World Wide Web? Do you need a difficult subject explained in layman’s terms?

Common Craft to your rescue! To quote their website: Our videos may surprise you. They’re short and simple. They use paper cut-outs. They cover subjects “in Plain English.” But lurking under the simple surface are lessons that have been crafted with great care. Despite our fun and lighthearted style, we take explanation seriously. The site is worth a visit!

Oh, and what IS Twitter about?

Steve Dembo of Discovery Streaming gave a presentation “The 10 Best Free Web 2.0 Tools For Teachers” and instead of a monotonous slide-by-slide presentation, gave an action-packed and easy-to-follow (wow, I love hyphens!!!) on Prezi.com. To get an idea, take a look at his presentation!

Attending the International Technology Education Conference in Washington, D.C., I’ve been able to discover new and interesting resources that many educators would find useful, and one that definitely raised my Happy Quotient was in a session on ten Web 2.0 useful free websites: a free online video editing site called JayCut. Similar to software such as iMovie or Movie Maker, you’ll see the same type of transitions, effects, and timelines to construct videos, and the desktop is quite easy to use. The site requires registration and is ready for you to explore today!

Today was a normal regular day with an unusual amount of complaints and fires to extinguish. And, to top those off, work followed me home: my email had complaints in it. To take a break, I decided a trip to Wal Mart would help. You know it’s bad when a trip to Wal Mart is comparable to a night out on the town!

I’ve been in a lot of pain and the doctor, trying to figure out what’s wrong, suggested at today’s appointment that we start with an over the counter medicine to start weeding out what things could be wrong.

I scanned the aisle of the modern apothecary and soon found the coveted medicine. I scooped up it up and made my way to the check out. As I placed it on the counter, and the cashier rang up the purchase, a code popped up. The clerk looked at me and said, “Are you over 18?” As I stood there feeling miserable and old and feeble, I looked at her with this INCREDULOUS look, for I honestly could not get the joke.

“Uh, I am WAYYYY over 18.” I could not figure out where this conversation was going.

“Well, you certainly don’t look it!” By this time she was clutching the medicine and staring at me, and the folks behind me were getting restless. I tilted my head and looked at her.

“Trust me–I am over 18.” My look said, “Hand the darn medicine over!!!!”

Then we started a stare down. She blinked and said [I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP], “I need to see some ID please.”

“You’re carding me?!?” I exclaimed.

“Yes.”

By this time the joy was more than I could bear. My hands started shaking. I started humming. It hit me–the lady IS CARDING ME. Carding = suspicion of being underage. Young. Real Young. Trouble maker. “My license!” I couldn’t pull it out fast enough. “I’m being carded! Halleluiah!!!!” I grinned at everyone behind me waiting in line, with a Mr. Bean face (refer to the picture above), pointed to the clerk, and said, “She’s carding–me!

She took the license, looked at it, and gasped, “Oh my gosh! You’re OLD!” A lady behind me, totally disgusted, said, “Of all the luck! I’m old too–can I be carded?”

All of a sudden the pain is totally gone. Those complaints? What complaints? Stress? Where?

Take a “trip” through the Smithsonian at night: “After a field trip to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, you are magically taken to the galleries at night. Artworks are mixed up—all because of the troublesome Root Monster! To get back home, you have to solve mysteries—and help your new friends find their artworks.” Made for nine to ten year olds, students are able to take a tour to see works of art while also learning along the way. Wonder what the nine year old beta testers think? Read reviews on the Smithsonian blog and then take a tour yourself, if you dare!

Contemplating and mulling over this year and planning for next year, three areas that I wish to focus on in educational technology in both my buildings are:
–>podcasting
–>wikis
–>Voicethreads

The possibility of student collaboration projects with Wikis, the easy-to-use and design podcasting and Voicethreads can be easily utilized by all. Ruth has put together a worth your time review on her blog. Please read her post to familiarize yourself with Wikis and podcasts. Warning: you’ll be hooked!

From a recent email about Tech Support stories:

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Customer: A white one…
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Tech support: Click on the ‘my computer’ icon on to the left of the screen. Customer: Your left or my left?
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Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can’t print. Every time I try, it says ‘Can’t find printer’. I’ve even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can’t find it.
============== =
Customer: I have problems printing in red.. Tech support: Do you have a color printer? Customer: Aaaah………………..thank you.
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Tech support: What’s on your monitor now, ma’am? Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.
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Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore. Tech support: Are you sure it’s plugged into the computer? Customer: No. I can’t get behind the computer. Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back. Customer: ! OK Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you? Customer: Yes Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard? Customer: Yes, there’s another one here. Ah… that one does work.
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Tech support: Your password is the small letter ‘a’ as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7. Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters ?
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Customer: I can’t get on the Internet. Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password? Customer: Yes, I’m sure. I saw my colleague do it. Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was? Customer: Five dots.
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Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use? Customer: Netscape. Tech support: That’s not an anti-virus program. Customer: Oh, sorry… Internet Explorer.
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Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.
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A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer. Tech support: Are you running it under windows? Customer: ‘No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine.’

While exploring the blogosphere, I found:

CREATING COMICS IN WORD: Import your pictures into Befunky and past into Word to make a personalized comic strip! Way too cool! You could:

…make an autobiography
…time and sequence strips
…retell a story
…book reports
…explain a process
…food chains?

The ideas are limitless. For more information and instructions, go to http://sharpjacqui.blogspot.com/2009/05/creating-comics-in-word.html

Quick. Think what frustrates you the most about teaching. Is it because the students don’t care?

Daniel T. Willingham,in the spring issue for 2009, The American Educator, Why Don’t Students Like School? addresses the issue about why it is difficult to make school fun and enjoyable for students. He proposes that one of the main reasons is that the brain is not good at thinking. Quoting Henry Ford, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.” (p. 4). Why is thinking so hard?

Visual abilities are much faster than cognitive abilities: they’re often slow, effortful, and uncertain. Memory trumps cognitive abilities, and thus, kicks in immediately. For example, how many times have you showed up at your destination (school, for example, in the morning), turn off the ignition, and have no clue how you got there? Immediately you look in the rear view mirror wondering if you’ll see flashing blue lights! Memory guides your behavior. What is a teacher to do? Willingham writes, “…an important factor is whether a student consistently experiences the pleasurable rush of solving a problem.” (p. 9). Some key steps that he suggests:

–> Respect students’ limited knowledge and space in working memory
–> Identify key questions and ensure that problems are solvable
–> Reconsider when to puzzle students
–> Change the pace

The last is especially important: change grabs attention (13). Sylvia Tolisano writes about change in Langwitches (GREAT resource/blog!) with considering technology integration. Instead of drill-and-kill sites, how about making a video in the classroom, such as AFI Screen Education? Your TRT has a wealth of ways to change the pace for instruction, especially during the post SOL doldrums. We’re there for you!

The article: Why Don’t Students Like School?